Nine Brides and One Witch by Kasey Michaels

Author:Kasey Michaels [Michaels, Kasey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-10-29T22:00:00+00:00

“Here it is—my most important possession. Strange how I am always misplacing it.” Aunt Grizelda popped her head and shoulders back out of the chest, holding a rather old, strangely lopsided, melon-sized ball that appeared to have been fashioned out of lead crystal. Rubbing at it with the skirt of her gown—for the ball was quite dusty—she turned to her guest, a rather sheepish smile on her face. “You don’t want them to disappear? Really? Oh, that is most amenable of you, my dear. I, however, believe the best way to prod them into minding their manners is to give them a small dose of their own vile medicine. And this will do nicely, I’m sure,” she said, returning to stand beside the table and depositing the ball into a wooden holder that seemed fashioned for just such a use. “I never did much like working with newts. Heloise was quite good with them, however. Now, tell me, what is it these boys do that most offends your sensibilities?”

A prudent person might be running for the door just about now, Arabella concluded, staring at what she at last realized must be a witch’s crystal ball. As a matter of fact, a prudent person would be running for the door—and screaming all the way!

But Aunt Grizelda couldn’t really be a witch. There was no such thing as a witch. Never had been, no matter how much the general populace had been bent on dunking or burning females a few centuries ago. Witches were nothing but creatures from rather dark, uninspiring fairy tales—or characters in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Nobody really believed in witches.

William Shakespeare’s play? Oh, dear. Arabella swallowed down hard on a sudden, unsettling suspicion. Aunt Grizelda had spoken of someone she called “young Will.” She had also spoken of three women—Heloise, Maisie, and Hester. Did the witches in Macbeth have names assigned to them? Arabella didn’t think so. And what was that business about “doubled trouble” and “thundercloud kings”? No! That was ridiculous! William Shakespeare never set foot in Sussex, at least not as far as Arabella knew, and besides, he had been dead and buried for over two hundred years!

All these thoughts, and more, passed through Arabella’s head in a matter of seconds, and were just as quickly dismissed. Aunt Grizelda was a sweet old woman. A sweet old woman who lived, most happily it appeared, in a world all her own. And if she wished to play at being a witch, play at casting spells—well, what of it? Surely it could do no harm?

“Do?” Arabella responded at last, subsiding once more into the rocking chair, one eye still on the lopsided “crystal ball.” The tea was still piping hot, and the scones were delicious. She might as well finish them—then go. “Well, Aunt Grizelda, Bertie put salt in the sugar bowl yesterday and then sat by, his hands neatly folded in his lap, while I availed myself of two teaspoonfuls for my morning tea. And Freddie—oh, what can

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.